Misguided Plans
by bluejaygal
Summary: What if April and Jackson's pregnancy scare was not just a scare? What will happen when they try to have the wedding and the house and the baby all at once? And how will Jackson's new role at the hospital affect their marriage? AH following S9E6
1. Chapter 1

_This is my first Grey's fanfic. I have been a fan for all nine seasons, but have been really excited about this season, specifically JApril. This is an idea that came to me a few months ago, and I was finally able to get it down on paper._

_It explores what could have been for Jackson and April if she had actually been pregnant. Please read and review – I'd love to hear if this is worth continuing!_

_Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing of Grey's Anatomy or the characters. Just my own musings on what might have been…_

**(April's POV)**

I stared at the screen on my computer, reminding myself to keep breathing. _It's not the end of the world. Things could be worse. Don't let one piece of bad news ruin such a big day._ The cycle of clichés ran on repeat through my head without a successful outcome.

_Pulse racing… shortness of breath… blurry vision._ Even if I were not a doctor, I would know that I was exhibiting all the symptoms of a panic attack. However, the nausea was something completely separate. That had been almost constant for weeks. I was so accustomed to it that it barely phased me anymore.

"April, are you okay?" Meredith questioned as she walked into the lounge to refill her coffee.

I shook my head, blinking back tears and trying to stop my hands from trembling. My friends were accustomed to me freaking out, so I needed to find some way to indicate that this was more than just a small issue.

"Alright then," she soothed, approaching me and taking a seat next to me. "Let's just work on breathing. Can you do that?"

I followed her lead, counting the rhythm of her breaths and using the pattern to reestablish my own. My heart rate went down, but the tears spilled out.

"Okay, what's going on?"

"The-they're not coming," I whispered, turning the laptop toward her. "None. Not a single one of them."

She took a few minutes to read the email on the screen and, in typically Meredith Grey fashion, plastered a fake smile on her face to try and keep me calm. "So what? April, people get married all the time without everybody they're ever met being in the room. I mean, look at Derek and me. It doesn't make our marriage or our family any less valid."

"You're different," I sobbed. "You and Derek... you didn't have your family at your wedding because you didn't need them. You have your McDreamy husband and your cute and adorable little daughter and your equally gorgeous baby on the way, and your family is fine. Your families have accepted it all because you're these independent, have-it-all-together people. Me and Jackson… we-we're not like that. We didn't plan all of this, and I-my family… I can't be this person who has this husband and this baby that are not accepted by my own family because I messed up and made Jesus hate me."

"You're gestating and hormonal," Meredith explained, "And I know this because, I, too, am gestating and hormonal. And you're getting married today, so you're allowed to panic just a little. But you want to marry Jackson because you love him. So he is going to be your family along with the tiny human inside of you. Those other people – the ones that send you hateful e-mails and accuse you of being a terrible sinner – they don't deserve to be your family."

I laid my head on the table and groaned. "This is so not how this day should be starting."

**(Jackson's POV)**

"You set me up to sit by some super hot nurses at the reception, right? Because I got a new tux and everything…"

I looked up at the intern across the operating table from me and narrowed my gaze at him. "Dr. Ross, the next 18 hours of my life are going to be all about flowers and seating charts and making nice with about 200 people that my mother insisted be there for what she calls the social event of the decade in the Avery family. But in this room, in _my_ operating room, for the next 28 minutes, we are solely focusing on this patient and our work. Do you understand?"

"I'm sorry, Dr. Avery. I'm just so very honored to be attending your wedding. It's all everybody is talking about."

I rolled my eyes and chose not to respond to him. Having everybody in your life constantly reminding you what a big deal your wedding was might be flattering for most people. However for me, it just meant pressure. It felt like all I had felt for the past three months was pressure.

I knew that marrying April was the right thing to do. I loved her, and I loved the baby that we made, but giving her the wedding that she had dreamed of inevitably meant involving my mother, which led to her meddling in ways I never thought possible. She had turned a day that April had dreamed about as a little girl into an event warranting mention in every society page on the West coast, not to mention the eastern seaboard – home of the Avery legacy.

So instead of spending the entire morning pacing around the botanical gardens which were to be the background of our winter wonderland wedding, April and I made an executive decision to work through lunchtime. I scheduled back-to-back surgeries, and she had a long list of post-ops to monitor. It was the perfect reason to keep my mother off of our backs.

I was just about to close on my patient when Dr. Webber stepped inside of the OR and cleared his throat. "Dr. Avery, are you all wrapped up?"

"Just about," I answered, "But I thought this OR was free for the rest of the day. Is there a trauma coming in? Because I could totally scrub out and back in quickly if you need me to."

"No, it's not a trauma. In fact, it has nothing to do with surgery at all, which is probably a good thing, because you have a wedding to get to."

"It's not for another six hours. It will only take me 20 minutes to shower, shave and put on a tuxedo. I can stay here for awhile and be useful."

"You are going to be useful to your fiancee," Dr. Webber instructed, "And your mother, who sent me in to talk to you. She said there has been a change in the bridal party, so your sister is going to fill in as a bridesmaid. She wants you to pair her with your most eligible groomsman."

I removed my attention from my patient for a brief moment and looked at my former chief-of-surgery with wide eyes. "Are you being serious right now? No offense, Chief, but did you really need to come into my operating room to make special wedding requests on my mother's behalf?"

He chuckled. "Son, your mother is the last person I am going to argue with today. Word to the wise – just go with whatever she asks of you today."

I groaned, turning my attention back to the patient to finish suturing. "Believe me, that's all I have been doing for the past several weeks."

"A few more hours won't kill you," he replied, "So an eligible groomsman for your sister – got it?"

"Yes," I answered, handing the surgical instruments in my hand off to the scrub nurse and following Dr. Webber out of the room so I could scrub out. "Although I don't understand why my sister is now a bridesmaid."

My sister was not exactly the nicest person in the world. In fact, she spent all of her time making me feel like a failure. I had not even wanted to tell her that I was getting married, but unfortunately, that was not an option. However, I had been successful in keeping her away from April up until that point, and the thought of her up close and personal with the bride all day definitely made me worried.

"I can't answer that," Dr. Webber replied, "But I can give you another small piece of advice. I know that this day is not exactly what you or Kepner had in mind. Just try to keep perspective. You're going to have a lot of days in your life together, and this day is just a formality. So keeping your mother happy for the next few hours is a small price to pay."

"Easy for you to say."

**(April's POV)**

I sat across from my locker, staring at my reflection in the compact mirror in front of me. I had finally stopped crying, but now my eyes were red and puffy. In fact, most of my body was puffy. I was only fifteen weeks pregnant, and all of the books said that I would barely be showing at this point, which is exactly why we had rushed to schedule the wedding for that day. But I was already wearing a bigger size of scrubs, and the seamstress had to take my dress out twice.

Nothing was going the way it was supposed to go. I knew that nothing was perfect, especially weddings. But perfection was a far cry from what I had hoped for, and I was not even close to achieving that.

I was supposed to be in a limousine on my way to get my hair done twenty minutes earlier, but all I could do was stare at myself in the stupid mirror at my pathetic reflection. I would have started crying again, but I was too dehydrated to produce any tears.

When the door to the locker room opened, I lunged to seek shelter in the bathroom, praying that Catherine Avery was not hunting me down. Fortunately, it was Jackson's voice that called out to me.

"April…"

"I'm so glad it's you," I exhaled, crossing the room and burrowing my face against his lab coat.

"I thought I was going to have to wander through massive botanical gardens to find you," he soothed, running his fingers up and down my back. "The itinerary clearly stated that you were to leave the hospital an hour ago."

"I went AWOL," I sighed. "Want to go AWOL with me?"

"More than you know," he replied. I couldn't see his face, but I could hear the hint of a grin in his voice. It was almost enough to make me forget about my puffy face and look up at him. "Meredith told me about your family. I'm so sorry. You don't deserve that."

"It's not just that they aren't coming," I admitted. "It's that they can't forgive me. And it's taken me so much time to forgive myself, but their refusal to absolve me from this is getting in the way of them knowing the best parts of me. You and this baby – you are the most amazing parts of my life, and I can't share that with my own family."

He moved his hands up to frame my face and leaned down to my eyesight. "Do you want to postpone the wedding? I can go down there and make everybody go home."

"No," I refused, ignoring my instincts to take his hand and run away from the impending train wreck that was sure to be our wedding ceremony. "I've already received hate email from all of my family members and had a nervous breakdown. I just want to get this all over with and be your wife. I don't think anything more can go wrong."

"I wish you wouldn't have put that out there," he grinned, kissing my forehead. "Because with our luck, I have a feeling something else will inevitably go wrong."


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for your reviews! I am glad that you are interested in this story._

_This chapter might seem a little drawn out, and I'm sorry about that. I wanted to set everything up. I promise when you get to the end, you will feel some plot movement. I also remind you that things are not always what they seem, so please don't hate me __._

**Chapter Two**

**(Jackson's POV)**

"Baby, you look so handsome in that tuxedo. See, I told you that custom-made was the only way to go. I just can't wait to show you off to all of those stuffy old men your grandfather insisted we invite," my mother swooned while she messed with my tie. "Although, maybe one of those artifacts will be wise enough to hire you so you can get off of that sinking ship at Seattle Grace."

"We're not going there today, Mom," I warned. "Seattle is home. I'm not going anywhere. Besides, the hospital is not falling apart."

"That's not what Richard told me," she replied in a sing-song voice. "All I'm saying is that you have options, Jackson. A few calls and you could be a fellow at any hospital in the country. Maybe even back home in Boston…"

Before I could launch into the full speech about how my career was none of my mother's business, Serena, the wedding planner entered the room. She looked more like an air traffic controller, balancing three cell phones and a walkie-talkie in a designer clutch. My mother had flown her in from L.A. for the week, and she had already topped my list of most annoying people in the universe.

"The guests are all arriving and taking their seats, Dr. Avery. The string quartet is in place, and the minister is waiting in the designated meet-up location," Serena announced, directing her report only to my mother and giving little acknowledgment of my presence in the room.

"And the bride?" my mother asked in the same tone she used with surgical interns in the OR.

"Dressed and ready to go. Oh, and I have made alternative arrangements to fill the empty seats on her side since her family will not be joining us."

I winced, thinking it was so much more than filling seats or finding alternative bridesmaids. As much as April insisted that she was alright, I knew that it was torturing her to know that her own family refused to be there on the biggest day of her life. The day she had dreamed about always included her father walking her down the aisle of a beautiful church with her sisters wearing matching dresses standing next to her. The reality was sans church, her father or her sisters.

I wished I could have done something about it, but her parents refused to answer my phone calls. I had tried at least a dozen times since Meredith told me that the Kepners were not coming to Seattle for the wedding. If I had known earlier, I would have jumped on a plane to beg them in person, but the only thing that would do would leave April all alone up on the altar.

While my mother and her little wedding soldier went back and forth debating details of the day, I slipped out of my designated dressing room and headed outside for some air. I knew that all the guests were coming in through the main entrance, so I used a loading dock in the back.

The brisk winter air was more refreshing than I would have thought. I grabbed onto the knot at the top of my tie and yanked on it as if it would make alleviate some of the pressure that had been plaguing me ever since my mother showed up in town and took over everything. Up until that point, we had been planning a small marriage ceremony with friends. Of course, my mother insisted that it was inappropriate for us not to throw a wedding extravaganza.

The wedding was not the only aspect of my life that was making me feel the pressure. As much as I told my mother that Seattle Grace was great, I knew that things were bad. It didn't take a financial expert to figure out that the settlement from the plane crash was putting a substantial damper on the hospital's budget. It was just a matter of time until something had to give, and I had a nagging feeling that it would give in a big way.

"You're not running away, are you?" Cristina's voice questioned from behind me. "Because if you are, I ask you to at least have the decency to not do it in front of me – I don't want to be the shoulder not-so-virgin-Mary cries on when she finds out. Besides, if you can just hold off a little longer, I can get some valuable face time with your grandfather."

"Well, I would hate to inconvenience you," I replied with an eye roll. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. Just needed some air…"

She took a few more steps forward so that she was in my peripheral vision, which is when I noticed that she was wearing a bridesmaid dress.

"What could my mother have possibly had on you to make you a stand-in bridesmaid?"

"It didn't take more than the reminder that members of the wedding party have this incredible access to the family and closest friends of the happy couple – well, in your case, just the groom – but still. Avery, your guest list reads like a who's who of innovation in modern medicine. So if I have to put on a silly matching dress with your sister and Mer in order to do a little networking, I'll do it."

Cristina was absolutely right. It was a fact of my life that any major family gathering included a countless supply of world-renowned surgeons. The lion's share of our three-hundred person guest list was comprised of supporters of the Harper Avery Foundation. While I was used to it, but I knew that April would be a little flustered by it. After the morning she had, I just hoped that things could go smoothly for the rest of the day.

**(April's POV)**

"Three minutes, people! Processional in three minutes!"

"Your wedding planner is way more of a Nazi than Bailey ever was," Meredith commented from her seat across from me in the bridal suite. "Maybe she should consider a career in medicine."

I snickered at the thought. "I think she would be annihilated in the first hour, or even sooner depending on how long it would take until she got any type of bodily fluid on her clothing."

"Either way, I'd rather not watch her explode if Cristina isn't back here on time for the ceremony, so I'll go find her. Will you be ok alone?"

"Of course," I assured her with a smile. "I'm choosing to be happy for the rest of the day, remember?"

After the e-mail from my family and the stress of my morning, spending a few minutes alone with Jackson helped me put everything into perspective. I could let my family's decision ruin the entire day, or I could choose to find the silver lining.

There were so many aspects to the day that were not ideal. My family was not there and I didn't know over 75% of the guests. Of the remaining 25%, only a handful were friends, leaving a number of colleagues who I barely spoke to outside of the hospital. On top of that, I was ready to strangle the wedding planner and every single member of the venue staff.

But the biggest difference between reality and the way I had always pictured my wedding was the circumstances under which we were entering the marriage. I knew the only reason Jackson proposed was because I was pregnant, and that certainly was not planned. A few months ago, he had admitted to me that he was not ready for a marriage, and I agreed that I was in the same place. Yet we were only moments away from becoming husband and wife.

I had been experiencing moments of doubt in the weeks leading up to our wedding day. Regardless of how many times Jackson told me he loved me – which I believed with my whole heart – I worried that there would come a day when he realized that we were not cut out for marriage after all.

However, I was not going to let myself go there in the final moments before reciting my vows. My faith had always been very important to me, whether it was faith in God, family, medicine or just in the goodness of people. Faith was exactly what was keeping me positive. I had faith in Jackson and our relationship, so I could choose happiness and positivity over panic and self-doubt.

I turned to the door when it opened and offered a smile to Jackson's older sister, Brittany, as she entered to grab her bouquet.

"You look amazing," I commented, noticing how flattering the long black bridesmaid dress was on her. "Thank you, again, for being so great and stepping in at the last minute. I know it can be a little intimidating to be a part of such a big wedding. In fact, I'm a little intimidated myself, so knowing that you are here to support me means so much to m-…"

"Save it," she interrupted, "You don't need to waste your energy sucking up to me."

"Oh, I'm not sucking up," I replied quickly. "I'm sorry if I went on too much. I have a tendency to ramble, especially when I get nervous. But I really mean it… you look amazing, and I am so glad you're here."

"You already have my brother on the hook, so I see no need for you to force yourself upon me. I'm sure between the divorce settlement, alimony and child support, you'll have more than enough Avery money to keep you set up for life."

Words like _divorce_ and _alimony_ were not exactly what I wanted to hear moments before I walked down the aisle. "Excuse me?"

"That is the end game, isn't it? Take advantage of Jackson's weak nature, get pregnant, play the scared single mother-to-be so that he'll marry you, and then leave with your millions? Trust me, I can see right through you."

I felt all the air escape from my lungs. While I had just met Brittany briefly the night before, I thought that our conversation had been pleasant. Jackson warned me that she had a tendency to be critical, but I never expected for her to get so critical so quickly – especially since she was dead wrong.

"I'm in love with your brother," I assured her. "He is my best friend, and I would never take advantage of him. The thought of hurting him makes me si-…"

"Really?" she interrupted once again, "Because I think you got yourself into a bind when you failed your boards and got fired, so you found another way to make some fast money. You hopped into bed with my brother and hit the jackpot when you got pregnant. Believe me, April, you are not the first woman to target my family with the same intentions."

In all of the years I had known Jackson, I had never once seen him as a rich target. Even when his mother visited and made it clear that he was a member of the Avery legacy, I only saw the guy who sat up late with us eating cold pizza and ramen noodles throughout our internship and residency. The accusations his sister was throwing at me were shocking, and it took a lot of will power for me to stay positive. All I wanted to do was explain to her all of the reasons I loved Jackson while the tears beneath the surface spilled out across my face. Before I had the chance to start, the wedding planner entered the room and cleared her throat.

"Time to go. I have two bridesmaids and need one more," she announced, crossing the room and ushering Brittany out in front of her. "April, you count to ten and head out here, got it?"

"Um, yeah…" I sighed, waiting until they left the room to sink into my seat. "So much for choosing to be happy."

**(Jackson's POV)**

"Dude, Yang didn't even walk down the aisle with that many flowers at her own wedding," Alex whispered when Cristina was halfway down the aisle as the string quartet my mother hired played some classical song that apparently had the magical power to make almost every woman in the room cry.

I gave him a small nod without vocalizing a response and glanced to the front row on the opposite side of me. My mother had lined up the interns in place of April's family, which was ironic considering the fact that they were almost as jittery as what I imagined the Kepners would be in the same situation. Of course, their biggest concern was making a good impression on us so that we would be more likely to put them on our services.

When Meredith started her journey down the aisle, I felt my heart rate spike. Meredith was the third and final bridesmaid, meaning that April was heading out in any moment. As much as we kept saying that this wedding was a formality, I found myself so anxious to see her. I never considered myself a romantic, but I knew that the next few moments would be forever imprinted in my mind.

Meredith offered a smile toward her husband, who was gracious enough to serve as a groomsman for me, and took her place next to Cristina. The musicians paused and started playing a different piece – one that sounded very familiar. I held my breath in anticipation and smiled at my mom, who was sobbing from her seat in front of me.

I turned my attention to the end of the aisle and waited. Seconds turned into minutes, and it was not until I saw the concern in the wedding planner's face when she rounded the corner that I realized something was wrong. April was not going to be coming down the aisle.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thanks, again, for your reviews! This is some much-needed JApril goodness after an emotional episode this week. Can't wait for the finale!**_

**Chapter Three**

**(Jackson's POV)**

Three minutes into the bridal processional, there was still no sign of April. The multitude of guests started exchanging questioning gazes and whispering to one another. I squeezed my hands into fists and released them several times, desperately attempting to keep calm. The wedding planner had only appeared in my line of vision for a brief moment before I saw her scurry down the hallway with determination.

My impulse had been to bolt up that aisle to get to April. If she was hurt, I could help her. If she was freaked out, I could calm her down. And, if my fears were coming proving true and she was running, I could… well, I did not know exactly what I could do about it, but I would figure something out.

Yet before I took a step, I reevaluated the situation. If it was something minor, April would be mortified by me panicking. That kind of overreaction would plague every retelling of our wedding story for the rest of our lives. I resolved to give her until the end of the song to make her entrance. Unfortunately, the song was drawing to a close, and I felt every set of eyes in the room staring at me.

"I'll go," Meredith said softly, "She probably just needs help going to the bathroom or something."

"Or she pulled a Dr. Burke and bolted," Alex whispered, resulting in one of Cristina's nastiest glares.

"Shut it, evil spawn!" she growled under her breath.

"I'm just saying, she totally seems like the type to bolt," Karev explained.

"Alex!" Meredith scolded.

My mother stepped forward and put her hand on my cheek. "Don't panic, Jackson. I'm sure it's nothing."

"Is that her?" someone questioned loudly from the back of the church. I looked across the room and groaned when I realized that it was not April, but Serena, the wedding planner, speed walking toward me.

"Doctors Avery," she greeted us breathlessly, "The bride has locked herself in the bathroom and refuses to come out until she can have a moment alone with the groom and someone named Bailey."

"Dr. Bailey?" I repeated, searching my mind for any reason why April would be so adamant about having time with Bailey – unless it had something to do with the baby. I swallowed hard when the possibility of something being wrong with the pregnancy crossed my mind.

"Yes, that sounds right," Serena nodded. "She's holding the ceremony hostage until she can talk to you and Dr. Bailey. We just have to figure out what to tell all of these people so they don't leave."

"That is not his problem right now," my mother piped up to my surprise. She must have shared my worries, because in any other circumstance, she would have been completely humiliated. "I'll handle all of these people. Jackson, sweetie, just go get your girl."

I scanned the room until I spotted Dr. Bailey and approached her. "Can I see you for a moment?"

She frowned and pointed at her chest. "Me? What the hell is going on here, Avery?! Some of us have jobs to get back to."

"I'm not exactly sure yet," I admitted softly. "Just please?"

She reluctantly stood up and slid past a few her husband before following me out the back of the room toward the bridal suite.

**(April's POV)**

I cursed myself for choosing a dress with tulle in the skirt. Had I anticipated the need to lock myself in a bathroom on my wedding day, I would have purchased a dress that made sitting on a sink easier. Unfortunately, there I stood exhausted and unable to get comfortable while I waited to see whether or not Catherine Avery's wedding coordinating drone would take direction from someone without the Avery last name.

"April," Jackson called from the other side of the door, proving to me that there was hope for Serena yet. His voice was dripping with concern, which I should have anticipated. "I brought Bailey, so can you _please_ open the door so we can check you out?"

"Check me out?" I responded in confusion. "I'm not sick."

"Then you need to explain why you had me summoned into the middle of your runaway bride fiasco, Kepner!" Bailey argued. "You know I have no interest in all of your drama."

They had assumed something was wrong with me. I scolded myself for not taking that into consideration when I locked myself in that bathroom.

"Oh, gosh… I'm so sorry!" I apologized from the other side of the door. "I didn't mean to scare anyone."

"You're still scaring me," Jackson replied. "Can you just open the door?"

I looked down at my dress and smoothed it out. Even if I was not going to be at the end of a gigantic aisle, I still wanted to look good for the first time he saw me in my wedding gown. Once I was wrinkle-free, I inhaled deeply and grabbed the doorknob, exhaling slowly as I turned and opened it.

"You look fine to me," Bailey sighed. "So why am I here?"

I glanced at Jackson, whose expression I could not quite read, before turning my attention to Bailey. "You were ordained for Callie and Arizona's wedding, right?"

"Yes, but if you're suggesting that I march up to the front of that room and de-throne your future mother-in-law's minister in front of every legendary surgeon in this country, you can think again."

"I was actually hoping you would marry us here, like right now," I explained, searching my fiancé's face for any kind of reaction. "That is, of course, if Jackson still wants to get married."

"I..uh," he stuttered, "You look _really_ amazing."

Heat rose to my cheeks, and I found myself entranced in his gaze. "Thanks."

"Good lord, are the two of you just going to stand there and make googly-eyes at each other all day? Because there are several hundred people in the other room waiting for you to show up to get married, not to be told that you eloped to the dressing room!"

"Nobody will know," I answered Bailey, forcing myself to remove my gaze from Jackson. "We'll go out there and repeat after the minister just like we planned, and everybody will think we're getting married for the first time."

"Why?" Jackson cleared his throat, snapping out of the trance he had been in. "What happened?"

I swallowed hard. Explaining the last hour to Jackson was not going to accomplish anything but putting him in the same mood I had been in. My relationship with my family had been blown to smithereens, but there was no reason for his to fall apart in the same day. I told myself that his sister was probably just being overprotective. She had to warm up to me eventually.

"Nothing."

"April?" he questioned knowingly.

I sighed. "If we go out there and exchange our vows in front of all of those people, they are all going to be thinking the same thing – that you're only marrying me out of some archaic notion that says a man has to marry the woman he got pregnant."

"Why do we care what everybody else is thinking?" he argued.

"We don't, but a tiny part of me would be thinking the same thing," I admitted softly, noticing his expression drop when he heard the words come out of my mouth. He opened his to respond, but I cut him off before he had the chance. "Look, I know you love me. I feel that every time it's just you and me… but then the rest of the world gets in the way, and it's really hard not to hear the doubts they all have. Your dad took off and you don't want to do that to your kid, and then there's the fact that you're an Avery. Doing the right thing has never really been a question for you – you just do it. So I just thought that this moment – us exchanging our marriage vows – I thought this moment could be just for us."

**(Jackson's POV)**

April's statement was logical, which is exactly why I knew she was not telling me the whole truth. When she was being transparent, she rambled and sounded crazy. Logical rambling from April always meant that something else was going through her mind.

Even so, there she stood in front of me in a gorgeous wedding dress, pleading with me to exchange our vows without the public display of a wedding ceremony in front of dozens of strangers. I would have been an idiot not to oblige.

"I'm in," I answered simply. "Bailey, can you do this for us?"

"You swear your mother will never find out about this, Avery? Because I do not want to be the one that hijacked her son's wedding…"

"We'll be the only ones who know, I promise," I reassured, taking April's hands into mine. "We only have a few minutes until she comes busting through that door, though, so let's do this."

April's mouth twisted into a smile that was nothing short of remarkable. I lost myself in that smile, missing the entire preface of our impromptu marriage ceremony until the point where Bailey cued my fiancée to share her vows.

"I didn't write anything," she admitted, "But for me, what I need to say to you is pretty simple. You're my best friend, Jackson. Anything good or bad that happens to me – you're the person I want to talk to about it. Because even when everything else falls apart, I know that you are my silver lining. We have been through so much, and a lot of it has been bad, but you and me – we wound up on the other side together, and it's really good."

I squeezed her hands and she lost her train of thought, staring down at our fingers.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to distract you," I whispered.

"No, I was kind of babbling," she shook her head. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I love you, Jackson. I didn't see it coming, and I don't really know where it's going, but I know that I am in this with you. I promise to keep loving you through whatever life is going to throw at us. I will be your wife and your best friend for the rest of our lives."

I smiled and pulled her hand up to kiss it before reaching into my breast pocket and pulling out a note card.

"I took notes," I explained with a grin, "Only because I wanted to make sure I told you everything I was thinking about."

"And you said I'm the one who over prepares for everything," she joked.

"Well, what can I say?" I retorted. "I guess you're rubbing off on me."

Bailey cleared her throat. "By my estimation, you two have approximately ninety seconds until people are going to start looking for you."

I nodded at her and turned my gaze to the note card in my hands. "I love you, April. I have loved you for a long time, but it wasn't until these last few months that I realized how desperately in love with you that I am."

At a glance, I could see the tears forming in her eyes. I offered her a soothing smile and continued.

"Someone really important to me once said that when you love someone, you tell them. Even if it scares you, you tell them. So here I am, telling you, and promising you that I will love you for the rest of our lives. You, me and this little one," I added, sliding the note card back into my pocket and resting a hand on her abdomen, "We're going to be an awesome family. I promise to be there for both of you in good times and bad, no matter what."

"Okay, then let's get to the finale," Bailey interjected. "Kepner – uh, April, do you take Jackson to be your lawful wedded husband, to live in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love, honor, comfort, and cherish him from this day forward, forsaking all others, keeping only unto him for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"And do you, Jackson, take April to be your lawful wedded wife, to live in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love, honor, comfort, and cherish her from this day forward, forsaking all others, keeping only unto him for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," I nodded, choosing to ignore the clanking of high heels approaching from down the hall.

"Then I pronounce you husband and wife," Bailey announced quickly. "Go ahead, kiss!"

"You don't have to tell me twice," I mumbled as I moved my lips down to meet April's and pulled her into a kiss that neither of us would soon forget.


End file.
